"Adam ate an apple from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. It's a shame we ran out of apples." -- The Sage.

"The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness." -- John Kenneth Galbraith

"Reality has a liberal bias." -- Stephen Colbert

We are proud members of the resistance.

Tuesday, April 18

SO YOU CAN'T BE A LIBERAL CHRISTIAN?

Now this rant by Doug Giles is as offensive and preposterous as anything I've read lately. Doug insists that there's no such thing as a Christian liberal, that it's a contradiction in terms. That will come as a huge surprise to Jesus Christ and a huge number of his followers who are, in fact, liberals (including yours truly).

Doug says that a vote for liberals is a vote for:

1. "Christianity to be scrubbed from government and whatever turf the government owns." Frankly, I don't believe religion has any place in government. Giles says you can kiss Christmas and Easter goodbye (since when do we need governmental recognition to celebrate Our Lord?) and "you can kiss the Cross good-night as an acceptable public symbol that represents your faith and our nation's recognition of Christ's atoning work." Again, the Cross is a symbol for our faith and requires no governmental recognition. The government has no business "recognizing Christ's atoning work." That is for us as Christians to do. If the government does it, that is a clear establishment of religion and a violation of the Constitution.

2. "A vote for the secular left is a vote for Christianity to continue to be officially vilified on campus and for Christians to be ostracized in campus life." "Officially vilified?" "Ostracized"? What can I say? The ridiculous man is suggesting that it is POLICY in public schools to persecute Christian children. As my kids would say, AS IF.

3. "Public officials, employees and appointees to be pressured to hide their faith in the closet and suppress their public displays of belief in God lest they be grouped with Hitler, Osama, or Mussolini and then fired. Not only will the liberals aggressively work to prohibit the State from green lighting and recognizing Christianity as a legitimate and positive force in our land, they will also attempt to stifle Christians from influencing the path of government." AGAIN, the State has no business recognizing ANY religion. By not recognizing any particular faith, it ensures the free exercise of all creeds. But the key to religious right fervor is revealed in the last sentence. Christians influence the path of government every day. Our faith influences our choices in every area, and that includes Christian lawmakers. What Giles is really saying is he fears a Democratic government where the religious right loses their organized, collective vote-getting power to force the governing party to enact their own narrow agenda.

4. "Public attacks on churches and Christians and attempts to restrict them in the private sector." I'm speechless.

5. "With the liberals in place, expect more weird crap in movies and on television." Oh yes, as if Hollywood has censored itself during the Bush administration, but will be set free to corrupt civilization if liberals are elected.

"Secular liberalism's aggressive desire to eradicate Christians' rights should cause Christians to be concerned." Has anyone noticed any liberals proposing legislation to make Christians wear a cross patch so they can be identified and targeted for oppression and deprivation of their Constitutional rights?

Giles also says that to vote liberal, a Christian would have to reject huge passages of the Bible. I would argue that the converse is true. The religious right ignores the Beatitudes (e.g., "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God"), the "hard sayings" of Christ (e.g., "If anyone should smite you, turn the other cheek"; "If you have two coats and a man asks you for one, give it to him"'; "Judge not, lest ye be judged"), even the second greatest commandment, which Christ characterized "as like the first" (which was "Love the lord your God with all your heart, mind and soul") -- "Love your neighbor as yourself." And who did Christ say was our neighbor? Anyone we come into contact with. And what did Jesus say was the essence of religion? To protect and provide for widows and orphans. In other words, the unprotected, the vulnerable. And let's not forget his cardinal message about visiting the prisoner, feeding the poor -- "Inasmuch as you have done it to the least of my brethren, you have done it unto me."

5 Comments:

Anyone who is familiar with the Sermon on the Mount, knows that Christ said to love your neighbor and to love God. I do have a problems with the charismatic far right who believe that they should push their beleifs on others. That, to me, is not love, but astoundingly arrogant control.Thanks for letting me read this, did me good.

Wow, who is this Giles person? He sounds like he's from an alternate universe. I'm also not sure he's ever read the New Testament. Thank you for this post. It is always refreshing to find other Christians who believe in the very essence of the teachings of Jesus, not the stuff the "religious right" keeps spewing.

My Liberal Identity:

You are a Peace Patroller, also known as an anti-war liberal or hippie. You believe in putting an end to American imperial conquest, stopping wars that have already been lost, and supporting our troops by bringing them home.